From an INTJ
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Myers-Briggs Inroduction - some info on the different Myres-Brigss types. Introversions and shyness is important to me because I am an Introvert and I am shy. I used to be deathly shy but I've worked on it for years and years and now I'm just somewhat shy. For years and years it has affected me. It continues to affect me. While I am better there are many things I still have trouble with. I still have extreme difficulty talking to new people. If they start the conversation, I deal with it much better. I have trouble doing new things. meeting new people, or going new places. Many people think that being shy and being an introvert are the same...they aren't. I read a book by Marti Laney called The Introvert Advantage and it pretty much changed my life. It showed me a different way to look at myself and my social interactions. It told me that Shyness was more of a personallity trait and Introverrsion was more physiological. Basically, since shyness is personallity, it can be overcome by with time and effort at changing that personallity trait. To change myself I hungout with a lot of extroverted friends who were not shy and I watched them. I watched all types of people who were not shy and even kept notes on some of their actions, mannerisms, and speech. I also visited websites like The Shyness Institue and Introversion is a little tougher. I had to learn some coping mechinisms and have little cheats. One major trait of introverts is that in unkown and stressful situations, their brains process information in a more thourogh fashion (a bit slower). So I would "Practice" for new situations. I would visuallize what might happen in new situations in my head, I would review things that people might ask me or say to me. For a while, I even kept a card with topics to start with and opening lines, some as simple as "Hi! My name is Joe" If you think you might be introverted or even if you jsut have trouble in social situations, you might read the book the introvert advantage. Below are some other links to some possibly useful sites. Here is a good artical one Caring for your introvert Here are some resources for Introverts. Some are good some not as good. Here are some tips to help to learn to overcome shyness. |